The Needle: New Report Alleges Trump Was An Active Participant in Jeffrey Epstein Abuse, Grand Jury Rejects DOJ Attempt to Indict Cassidy Hutchinson, New Book Says Jared Kushner Was Paid to Get Rex Tillerson Fired, and More
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Gail O'Hara (via Washington CityPaper)
Files ahead: The House Judiciary Committee’s new 53-page report says that convicted felon and President Donald Trump was “an active participant in Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse of young women in the mid-to-late 1990s.” The report mentions 11 women—five of whom say Trump either raped or sexually assaulted them (two were 13 or 14 years old at the time)—and contains one new allegation against Trump: a former Miss Switzerland says he raped her during a beauty pageant in 1993. It also details inconsistent, and sometimes inaccurate, public statements Trump has made about his relationship with Epstein. A White House spokesperson says the report is politically motivated. Minus five points for the allegations but plus one point for pushing for a special counsel to investigate. -4 [Miami Herald]
Jury’s out: A federal grand jury rejected an attempt by the DOJ to indict Cassidy Hutchinson, former White House aide to former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, for her 2022 testimony about what happened during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. The DOJ’s inability to secure an indictment is its latest failed attempt to prosecute one of Trump’s political enemies. Plus one point for justice. +1 [Post]
Foreign services: According to Matthew Cole’s forthcoming book, Princes and Thieves: Jared Kushner and Mohamed bin Zayed’s Secret Plot to Remake the Middle East, Jared Kushner was allegedly paid $50 million by the United Arab Emirates to get former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson fired. Cole claims that Tillerson was friendly with Qatar, so the Saudis and UAE urged the White House to get rid of him. Kushner denies the allegations. Recent reports from Vanity Fair and Mother Jones detail the extent to which Kushner is reportedly working for leaders of UAE, Israel, and Saudi Arabia, and not the American people. Minus two points for these allegations. -2 [New Republic, New Republic, Mother Jones, Vanity Fair]
Conservative bias: Lifelong conservative and former DHS chief of staff Miles Taylor says the second Trump administration is tied to at least $377 billion in corruption in his new, free documentary CORRUPTIONLAND. Taylor reviewed public money, private benefits, and financial transactions in 100 cases of wrongdoing, examining court filings, records, congressional documents, and news items. According to his findings, most tax dollars have been misused, mismanaged, or put toward punishing Trump’s enemies. Plus one point for exposing corruption. +1 [Defiance, Raw Story]
Five people killed: On Tuesday, the U.S. military killed five people when it struck a suspected drug-trafficking vessel in the eastern Pacific. This brings the total to more than 240 people killed in 70 similar attacks since January 2025. The administration says the people and boats were involved in trafficking but it hasn’t provided evidence. Legal experts suggest the attacks could amount to extrajudicial killings because they’ve targeted civilians who don’t pose an immediate threat to the U.S. Minus five points, one for each human being. -5 [Guardian]
